US2317633A - Message dispatcher for railroads - Google Patents

Description

A ril 27, 1943. e. w. NORTH MESSAGE DISPATGHER FOR RAILROADS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fil ed Oct. 7. 1942 152 1 vvaqys April 27, 1943. e. w. NORTH MESSAGE DI S PATGHER FOR RAILROADS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct 7, 1942 W Q R Q A Patented Apr. 27, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MES SAGE DISPATCHER. FOR RAILROADS George WV. North, Boyceville. Wis.

Application October 7, 1942, Serial No. 461,087

4 Claims.

This invention relates to railway message dispatchers of a type also known as train order holders.

In most instances train orders are delivered by station agents to various members of train crews as the train is passing a station by attaching the orders to light wooden hoops which have straight handles extending tangentially therefrom. It is customary for the station agent to stand close to the track and reach outwith the hoop so that it can be grasped by a member of the train crew. This practice is extremely dangerous since the agent is likely to be struck by pieces of coal falling from the tender andat night he might be struck by a board or other piece of material extending out from a car farther than it should. It is also necessary that the agent be standing in readiness to hand up the order at the exact time the train is passing and even though railroads are operated on schedules, the trains are not always on time. Thus considerable time is wasted which might be devoted to more productivity.

While numerous other train order dispatchers have been previously devised they have been found to either grip thecrder hoop too tightly thus making it difiicult to disengage or they grip the hoop so loosely that it might accidentally become disengaged by the wind.

It is a general object of my invention to provide a train message dispatcher which will hold one or more hoops so that they will be conveniently and properly supported in a proper manher to be grasped by a trainman but at the same time will nicely and easily release the hoop.

A more specific objectof the invention is to provide a train message dispatcher which is made up of a number of sections which are relatively freely yieldable in different directions so that when the hoop is grasped by the trainman the support for the hoop can be made to give in nearly any direction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a train message dispatcher which has. improved hoop grasping jaws which satisfactorily retain the hoop but which swingopen freely when thehoop is pulled.

These andother objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings, Whereinlike reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the views, and, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of my invention with the supporting armsraised to .a horizontal: position; 1

Fig.12-isa. front viewwith the arms lowered;

Fig..3.is atop .planof the .outerportion of an arm;

Fig.4 isa side elevation ofthat portionofthe armshowninFig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is an end view of the outer. end of-an arm.

The .main supportof the apparatus is a :post 6 whichmay conveniently be embedded in-a block ofconcretei 1.. .Mountedon the post 6 are. three arms 8; Sand. ll). Thelower arm8 1 .1 end is providedon oneside, wi h Strap n onthe .other side with an angle iron l 2. The strapand angle iron-l hand l2 extend. rearwardly past the .end of the arm 8 and are pivotally-connected to the post 6 by means of a pivot bolt l3. The angle iron I2 is provided to lend; rigidity to lthe'pivot jointand said angle iron I2 and. strap, iron. Hare jbent downwardly; at an angle, as shown in Fig.1. Thiszpermi s th rm. 8 t swing from the: horizontal posit on o Fi 1 t a. downwardly hanging positi.0n,,.as indicated in Fig. 2. The. arm, 9 isprovided with a similar pivot joint generally: indicated. at. I4, said pivotal connection l4:.being.connected to. a, main supporting post portion. 15 which extends :laterally thence. downwardly from the top .of the .main postfi. :The arm I0 is provided with a-pivotal connection. -I 6 similar. to the onespreviouslydescribedand in turn is connected .to asupportingxpost .portion I! which extendslaterally. and thence downwardly on the opposite fsidepf the main .postli. The. auxiliary .post portion 15 is somewhat: longer than .said post-portion .ll so that. when thearms are swung up to ithehorizontal positions shownin Fig. 1 said arms8, 9 and :i ilwillbe located. at different levels.

The extending rear ends of the strap .irons' H and angle irons l2 are connected to ropes v.or cables l8 which extend downwardly to. a reeljlil turned. by a. hand crank. 20. By .rotationof the reel l9 the. arms 8, Qandjll can be raised and lowered.

' Fi s.'3.- 4 and 5 .illustrateindetailthe construction of the outer ends of the three arms, In Fig, 3 there is indicated. the extreme outer end of the, arm 8 -although,dof course. the structure is identical in the: three arms. Extending outwardlybeyondttheend of said arm .8;is a pair of straps 2| whichis'secured to ;the endsof said arms 8 by meansv of suitablescrews, 22. Each of'th s aps 2| is notched as at 3 to receives. bolt n nutte i .ends. The, bolt' 2.4 :baspe pair of flanges which are positioned just inside the inner faces of the straps 2| as best illustrated in Fig. 3, but are spaced slightly therefrom. Said bolt 24 is made in two halves, one-half of which is adapted to telescope into the other, as shown at 25. Nuts 21 on the ends of the bolt 24 draw the straps 2| against the flanges 28 to secure the bolt to said flanges.

The bolt 24 passes through the inner end of an arm 29 which forms an extension of the arm 8 and, of course, the arms 9 and I0 in each unit of the structure. Between the sides of the extension arm 29 and the flanges 28 are coil springs 30 which have oppositely extending ends 3| and 32. The spring ends 3| are bent inwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, and adapted to be fitted into any one of a series of sockets 33 arranged on an arc in opposite sides of the extension arm 29 and the spring ends 32 are adapted to similarly fit into holes 34 formed in the metal plates 2|. Obviously difierent locations of the spring ends 3| and 32 in any of their respective sockets or holes will change the tensions of the coil springs 30. This spring pivot permits the extension arms 29 to swing yieldably up and down, but the springs 39 are of sumcient strength to normally hold the extension arm 29 in alignment with its respective main arm 8, 9 or ill.

On the outer end of the extension arm 29 is a train order supporting arm 35, which is supported on a pivot bolt 35 which extends through arms 29 and 35 vertically and the train order supporting arm 35 rests upon a suitable bearing member 31. Extending inwardly from the outer or left-hand end of the arm 35 is a bore 38 which is adapted to receive the straight handle portion of a train order hoop such as the hoops 39 shown in Fig. 1.

. Secured to the train order supporting arm 35 is a pair of leaf springs 40 which are secured at their rear ends, as-shown in Fig. 4, and are free to move at their left-hand or outer ends. A pair of tension springs 4| connect the leaf springs 40 and assist in normally urging them toward each other. Pivotally mounted or hinged to the outer ends of said leaf springs 49 is a pair of jaw members 42, the hinges being indicated at 43. On each of the jaws 42 is a hoop gripping block 44 which is provided with a convex chamfer 45 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. A pair of stop members 46 limit the extent of movement of the leaf springs toward each other and, of course, similar- 1y limit the movement of jaws 42 and blocks 44 toward each other.

A pair of tension springs 41 are connected between a plate 48 on the rear end of the train ordersupporting arm 45 and a bracket 49 on the extension arm 29. These springs 4! permit yielding pivotal movement of the train order supporting arm 35 relative to the extension arm 29.

Mounted on each of the arm extensions 29 is a light fixture 50 which is arranged to direct its beam outwardly to illuminate the hoops 39 so that they can be readily seen at night. The lights 50 may be supplied with electricity through a cable indicated at 5|.

The apparatus is, of course, adapted to be installed adjacent a railway track at a station and so located that when the arms 8, 9 and ID are extended as in Fig. 1 the hoops 39 will be in a convenient position to be grasped by the trainman. When a hoop is grabbed its supporting arm 35 will swing in the direction of movement of the train and if it is pulled the jaws 42 will swing open while the leaf springs 40 separate slightly and the handle of the hoop will slip easily from the socket or bore 38. Should the trainman pull up or down as he grasps and pulls the hoop the arm extension 29 will yieldably tip up or down in the direction of pull and, consequently, the hoop cannot possibly jam to prevent its removal or to injure the trainmen.

In the drawings there are illustrated three arm assemblies. For example, if there are two engines in a train the upper arm assembly could be used for a message to be dispatched to the first engineer, the middle arm assembly could be used for a message to be dispatched to the engineer of the second engine, and the lower unit could be used for a message to the brakeman or other trainman in the caboose.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a railway message dispatcher assembly which is so constructed that the hoop carrying the message will always quickly and easily slip from the device and that while several portions of the arm assembly are easily movable out of their arm position they will return to their proper position as soon as the hoop has been released. The mechanism is simple in construction and is so formed that the ordinary strains imposed upon it will in no way injure it. It is simple to load and easily operated. Its cost is not great. It is adapted to save time on the part of the station agent as well as to eliminate danger of injury such as has been outlined above.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railway message dispatcher, an upright, a plurality of arms connected to said upright on horizontal pivots, each of said arms having a resilient joint intermediate its ends to provide inner and outer sections, said sections being normally held in alignment by said resilient joint, an extension connected to each outer section by a vertical pivot and held yieldingly in alignment therewith, said extension having a longitudinal bore therein extending inwardly from the outer end thereof to receive the straight portion of a train order hoop, and yieldable jaw members adjacent the outer end of said bore to yieldably grip the train order hoop.

2. In a railway message dispatcher, an upright, an arm pivotally connected to said up right and adapted to swing relative to said upright to a horizontal position, the outer end of said arm having a longitudinal bore therein to receive the straight portion of a train order hoop, and a pair of jaw members supported at the outer end of said arm adjacent the end of said bore, said jaw members being movable away from each other on lines substantially normal to said arms and also being movable outwardly from the outer end of said arm.

3. In a railway message dispatcher, an arm adapted to be extended outwardly in a generally horizontal position, said arm having a socket extending in from its outer end 'to receive a straight portion of a train order hoop, a pair of yieldable elements at opposite sides of said arm normally tending to spring towards said arm, said yieldable elements having jaw members mounted thereon for pivotal movement relative thereto, and said jaw members being positioned at the open end of said socket and at the outer end of said arm.

4. In a railway message dispatcher, an arm adapted to be extended outwardly in a generally horizontal position, said arm having means at its outer end for engaging a portion of a mail order hoop, a pair of yieldable elements at opposite sides of said arm adjacent said hoop en-

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